The Pacific

"The art objects Pacific Islanders have produced over the centuries always played important functional roles in religious and communal life."
              -Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 15th ed.

History

  • Some of the oldest inhabited areas on Earth (The Aboriginals reached Australia around 50,000 years ago)
  • Some places only inhabited up to 1000 years ago (remote islands of the Pacific, Easter Island, New Zealand)
  • We know about the culture of these areas because of explorations in the 18th century

Assignment

The Ahu 'ula feather cape shows a person's ancestral connections, power and authority, and successes using geometric patterns.  Design your own feather cape! Any size paper, should be in color. You can use any materials you would like! Make sure that it is neat and represents you. What colors would you include and what kind of designs to show your success and achievements? If you were able to collect feathers from any type of bird, which would you use? The people of Hawai'i use mostly yellow, black, and red feathers as they are the rarest to find. You can include any color or types of feathers- what colors represent you? Write one paragraph to explain your feather cape and why it represents you. 

Create an actual feather cape that you can wear and bring to class! *You do not have to actually use feathers. Find creative ways to use alternates (coffee filters, felt, fabric, paper, fibres...) Start with a sketch about you cape symbolism and color significance. 

Key Ideas

  • Strong gender roles for creating art: Men = wood carving, women = tapa cloths
  • Wood is the primary material: they have perfected woodcarving
  • The use of natural materials such as fibers (plant materials), pigments, bones, sea ivory and shell, tortoise shell, wood, coral, and stone are very important to the meaning and symbolism of the artworks
  • Intricate lines and details
  • Art of Easter Island is unusual in Oceanic art
  • Heavily influenced by the sea (point of isolation and connecting through travel and trade). 
  • Art is in the form of performances, chants, dances, or rituals. Objects of dress/costumes or masks are used as props or disguises in religious rituals. They are not produced for aesthetic reasons.
  • Sculptures representing life forces in the supernatural world are often wrapped (usually in tapa). The life force is referred to as mana. Mana is protected and defended by the act of wrapping called tapu.
  • "Artworks" are displayed in the men's communal house.

Additional Resources

* YouTube: End of Easter Island
* YouTube: Crash Course- Captain Cook
Article (short) on Tamati Waka Nene from New Zealand History; Video included
Nat Geo interview with George Tamihana Nuku on Moko 
From the Smithsonian: Article: "History of Tattoos"
From the Smithonian: "Nan Madol" by Christopher Pala
Nat Geo article on Australia's Aborigines (fantastic article)
Video: The Ocean Shows Us the Way (navigation charts)
Video: New Ireland's Malagan masks by St. Louis Art Museum and this one from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Presentation of Fijian mats to Queen Elizabeth II
Documentary on the Moai statues by PBS

SmartHistory's Art of Oceania that includes articles on artworks, geography, and videos that are specific to Polynesia, Melanesia, and Mircronesia. Watch the video for the Buk mask

Vocabulary

1. deity
2. tapa
3. tatu (tattoo)/moko
4. mana (strength)
5. malanggan (malangan)
6. tatanua masks
7. moai
8. pukao
9. monolith
10. 'ahu 'ula

Artworks List

1. Nan Madol
2. Moai on platform
3. Ahu 'ula (feather cape)
4. Staff god
5. Female deity
6. Buk (mask)
7. Hiapo (tapa)
8. Tamati Waka Nene
9. Navigation chart
10. Malagan display and mask
11. Presentation of Figian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II

Notecard Images
Acknowledgements:  Information contributed by Silvia Wiedman
Links and information provided by Valerie M. Park  © 2013  www.mchsapah.com
Special thanks to the AP Summer Institute in Rome collaboration with Margaret Sharkoffmadrid
Copyright © 2020 A Vallecorsa